No Contending, Yes Content

“Though they wished to dispute with him,
    they could not answer him one time out of a thousand.
His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.
    Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?
He moves mountains without their knowing it
    and overturns them in his anger.
He shakes the earth from its place
    and makes its pillars tremble.
He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;
    he seals off the light of the stars.
He alone stretches out the heavens
    and treads on the waves of the sea.
He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,
    the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
    miracles that cannot be counted.
When he passes me, I cannot see him;
    when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.
If he snatches away, who can stop him?
    Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’” Job 9:3-12

After his ‘friend’ Bildad told him his misery was due to unconfessed sin and he should repent, Job replied with a defense of God. Though His ways were confounding, there was no contending with His wisdom and power. He alone made and moved and upheld the universe, and His ways with creation and creatures could not be fathomed. Job, suffering as he was, would be content with knowing that his God was sovereign and would do what He would do for His mysterious, wonderful reasons. (Job 8:1-6)

It is unredeemed human nature to want to contend with God. We plan and push to get our way, and He interrupts to change direction. We set schedules and work with impatience, only to find His timing is not ours. We desire good things and grow frustrated when they are not fulfilled. We think we’ve ordered our lives and raised our children wisely and get crushed by rebellion, stunning news, or a harrowing diagnosis. The flesh shakes its fist, the mind wrestles and reasons, the spirit asks why and how long. But the soul can be at rest and content, because God reigns from His unshakeable throne.

Have we been wrongly accused? Rejected, turned away, dismissed, turned down? How are we suffering in body or soul? People might castigate from haughtiness, or blame out of self-righteousness, supposing they can arbitrate with and control evils that befall man. But the Lord knows the way we take, and is always on our side working His good, even when we cannot see. Let us hush, wonder, and choose peace. (Job 23:10; Romans 8:28-39)

“When peace like a river attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
‘It is well, it is well with my soul.’

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
let this blest assurance control:
that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
and has shed his own blood for my soul.

My sin oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
my sin, not in part, but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more;
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

It is well with my soul;
it is well, it is well with my soul.” ~Horatio Spafford (1873)

Lord, in every darkness, help me rest content in Your constant light.